Justified Episode 4.10: “Get Drew”

Everyone - Marshals, criminals, stray dogs - was out to “get Drew” in last night’s episode of Justified.

We open at Shelby’s house with Tim, Raylan and the Kentucky state police searching Shelby’s effects. Boyd, who came looking for Ellen May, is under arrest, although he argues that the Marshals have no reason to hold him. Boyd tells Raylan that he should have stayed on the other side of the criminal line with Boyd and Arlo. “You’d still be able to shoot people and be an asshole, your two favorite activities. Except you would be a rich asshole.” Raylan demurs saying that he’d either be in prison or dead, although he doesn’t deny his enjoyment of shooting and being an asshole. Heh!

Rachel arrives, saying that Art sent her to make sure Tim and Raylan don’t do anything rash or stupid. I love it when all the Marshals are together.

Shelby has brought Ellen May to the Sheriff’s office, where he packs a giant bag of money, and tells her that she just has to stay put until his deputy comes in for his shift. If Ellen May knows enough about Boyd to make him want to kill her, she’ll be valuable enough to rate a place in the WitSec program. Her other option is to get on a bus, head to one of the coasts, and create a new life for herself. Shelby hands her a wad of cash in case she wants to carry out plan B. With all due respect to Ellen May (and the wonderful actress who plays her), she doesn’t have Shelby’s mental or emotional resources to start a new life. It’s a moot point because she wants to stay with Shelby.

Shelby drives away down a rainy street, where he spots a lost dog whose forlorn expression reminds him of Ellen May. He curses, turns around and picks up Ellen May (who has ignored Shelby’s instructions to stay put.) They plan to fly to Mexico, but when they get to the airfield, Shelby, who’s hiding in the back seat, spots a light that shouldn’t be on. He tells Ellen May to drive on. A wise decision, because the Marshals are waiting at the airfield. When Raylan realizes that Shelby is probably not coming, he suggests a roadblock at a pass that’s not even on the map.

Raylan insists on waiting outside at the roadblock while Rachel wants him to sit inside the car. She tells him that his standoffish personality is “annoying, but I let it slide because you get your job done and you’re easy on the eyes.” Heh! She can even deal with the fact that Raylan may be her boss if they catch Shelby, but if he doesn’t get in the car right now, Rachel says she’ll start singing show tunes. I’m sorry we didn’t get to hear that.

As Rachel and Raylan bicker, Art turns up to tell them that the state police had to let Boyd go. Raylan mentions to Art that he saw “whore’s underwear” at Shelby’s house, and in that moment realizes that Shelby was sheltering Ellen May. Rachel points out: “I have that same pair of panties” and Raylan manages to look slightly embarrassed as well he should. Raylan wants to tell the state police about Ellen May, but Art reminds him that their first priority is Drew Thompson. “The first thing we’re going to do is acknowledge that this guy is awesome,” Art tells them, and then lists all the ways in which Sheby/Drew is a badass and Art should know from middle-aged badasses!

Drew and Ellen May are only steps away from the Marshals, hiding in the woods. Drew says that they should surrender because they don’t have anywhere left to hide, while Ellen May says that she’ll never testify against Ava. Oh Ellen May! She’s such a lost girl that anyone who’s ever kind to her earns her undying loyalty. Ava totally doesn’t deserve it, though.

Boyd and Ava try to figure out where Shelby and Ellen May might be and Ava mentions Nicky Cush, the pimp who owned Audrey’s before the late Delroy. Boyd tells Colt that he needs Colt “to be that MP you were back in Kuwait.” Colt promises he’ll make things right for Boyd; Boyd orders Johnny to stay at the bar and wait for his call. That won’t go over well with Johnny!

Ellen May and Shelby have a sad sweet conversation about Mexico, which neither of them is going to see.

Wynn Duffy is woken by his henchman to take a phone call from Johnny Crowder. I’m going to take a moment to note that he sleeps with an eyeshade, which is just one of the many awesome things about Wynn Duffy! Johnny tells Wynn that they’ve found Drew Thompson, and asks for some of Duffy’s men as backup. Wynn says that Johnny knows Harlan a lot better than anyone he can send does; he tasks Johnny with finding Drew. “It’s called subcontracting.”

Shelby and Ellen May seek shelter with Limehouse, last seen amputating arms with a meat cleaver. Shelby hands over $15,000 to Limehouse, asking him to get Ellen May out of Harlan in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately for Shelby, Limehouse already knows that Shelby is Drew Thompson and that he is a prize worth more than $15K.

Boyd, Colt and Jimmy (who has apparently recovered from the rattlesnake bite to the face that he endured) visit Nicky Cush, and threaten him with oral surgery involving a drill. Cush gives up Ellen May’s probable whereabouts.

Ava is the logical emissary from Boyd to Limehouse, given that Limehouse sheltered her from her abusive husband Beaux Crowder. Ava tells Limehouse that Ellen May means her harm, which is sort of negated when Ellen May runs in and gives Ava an enormous hug, promising her that she hasn’t said anything to anyone about that thing that Ava doesn’t want her to talk about. Oh Ellen May! After she goes out, Ava asks Limehouse how much Shelby and Ellen May will cost.

Limehouse wants $300,000 (wiping out Boyd’s house fund), which Boyd in turn raises to $500,000 when he talks to Nick Augustine. As Wynn Duffy might say, “it’s called a markup.”

Johnny gets a call from Boyd saying that Ava has located Shelby, but before Johnny can act on this information, Raylan and Rachel arrive and Johnny tells them how they can nail Boyd for tax evasion. Rachel tells Johnny “you sound like the man stole your girlfriend.” Worse, Boyd stole what Johnny sees as his rightful place in the Crowder criminal enterprise! Johnny rants about Boyd for a bit, but when he gets to how the only thanks he got is a shotgun in the stomach, Raylan can’t take it anymore. Johnny got shot not because of Boyd, but because “that’s the shit that happens when you choose to live a life as a small-time asshole.” Anyway, the Marshals aren’t there for Boyd, they’re there for Shelby. Well, they just handed Johnny an opportunity to screw Boyd over, and I think we know he’ll grab that with both hands.

Boyd arrives at Limehouse’s holler, where Boyd makes it clear that he and Ava have “my friends, our friends, her friends” and Limehouse is definitely in the category of Ava’s friends. Heh! It’s such a couple thing, isn’t it? Limehouse decides that he’s changing the deal he made with Ava. Boyd’s money is enough to purchase one life, not two, so Boyd and Ava get to choose between Shelby and Ellen May.

Boyd and Ava have a lovely heartfelt conversation about whether they should pick the girl they want to murder so she can’t threaten Ava, or pick the guy who’ll be tortured brutally and then murdered to further their financial goals. Ava insists that Boyd pick Shelby, much to Ellen May’s despair. She finally turns against Ava, spitting in her face when Ava tells her that Limehouse would do the same thing.

Shelby tries to spin his past as a benevolent Santa Claus figure for Ava and Boyd, telling them that the cocaine he stole from Theo Tonin funded a whole industry in Harlan, putting roofs over people’s heads and Christmas presents under the tree. Boyd doesn’t find this any more convincing than I do! Shelby also drops the news that Arlo was shivved in prison (though he doesn’t mention the reason, which was to protect Shelby’s identity).

When Colt shows up, Boyd hands Shelby over to him to deliver which I find a little puzzling given how unreliable Colt was in the Ellen May affair. On the other hand, I guess Boyd figures it might as well be Colt and not Boyd on the receiving end of any potential double-cross by Tonin’s henchman.

Raylan and Rachel wait for the call from Johnny, and wonder if he’s dealing with them in good faith. Raylan gets a text about where Colt intends to hand Shelby over and he and Rachel hope they’ll get to the field in time.

Shelby, handcuffed to a tractor, taunts Colt, trying to get Colt to kill him before the handover to Theo Tonin. “You’re going to die at Boyd’s hand once he uses you up,” Shelby says, and I think he’s right. Colt is at the verge of pulling the trigger when he realizes what Shelby’s up to; then he does some nasty taunting back about how long and how painful Shelby’s death will be. I know he’s just as much of a drug-dealer/murderer as Colt but I really like Shelby a lot more than Colt.

Nick Augustine’s helicopter hovers overhead, and Shelby looks justifiably terrified, but just in time, the marshals show up and the helicopter aborts its landing. Shelby tells them that Colt’s up in the woods, and Rachel and Tim take off after him while Art and Raylan free Shelby from the tractor.

At the bar, Boyd gets Colt’s message that the Marshals have Shelby/Drew. Boyd looks worried, as well he should. “How is that possible?” Ava asks, as she and Boyd pointedly ignore Johnny’s face-twitches of extreme untrustworthiness. Boyd says that they either make a case to Theo or they run.

In the Wynnebago, Wynn Duffy picks running to Canada after Theo Tonin orders him to Harlan to get Drew Thompson away from the Marshals’ Service. His henchman, whom Wynn must keep around for other reasons than intelligence, says that he doesn’t want to run away. Wynn tells him to stay; it’ll be hard but Wynn will just have to learn to get along without him. Dare I hope we can follow Wynn’s adventures in Canada if he really does leave? I’d love to see his nonplussed face the first time he eats poutine, for example!

Meanwhile, Art tells Raylan that he could make a whole new life for himself and his kid based on cracking the Drew Thompson case (although Raylan is still looking at a week’s suspension for his stunt with Hunter Moseley). Rachel and Tim return empty-handed; Art warns them that Theo Tonin now knows that the Marshals have Drew. Raylan ominously says that they need to figure out “how to get him out of Harlan alive.” (It’s very dramatic, but doesn’t the Marshals’ Service have access to helicopters? And these newfangled things called cell phones? I don’t understand why Art didn’t call for a police chopper before he even arrived at that field. Oh well, I guess it sets up what is bound to be an awesome chase episode next week!)

Man. Somehow I missed this episode. Don't have the foggiest how that happened. I did watch last night, however, so I'll wait until next week's e-mail comes out to reply. I also tried to go on-line to watch the one I missed but can't seem to find anywhere you can see a whole episode; even going on the "FX Official Site." Does anyone know where I can watch?